Chapter 1
Cassius
Cassius sat outside his coffee shop, safely ensconced underneath the overhanging canopy, looking at the softly misting skies. The light rain, if it even qualified as rain since it was barely enough for an umbrella, gave everything a halo, and the air was still brisk—winter wasn’t quite ready to give up yet—but it wasn’t so bad that Cass felt the need to head back inside the shop just yet. He needed a bit of fresh air after the hectic morning.
The lunch bustle had died down, and they’d hit a blessed lull before the after work rush. The shop was almost empty, and he had left Steph to work the counter in case anyone came in, but for now she had her head buried in a textbook studying for one of her college courses, and all the patrons seated inside seemed happy and absorbed in work or their phones. Steph had tidied up the coffee station and they were stocked on baked goods, so he didn’t mind when she got some work done in their rare down time.
Cass sat in the rather cozy shop chair (he prided himself on having comfy furniture), his phone on the table, upside down, one earbud in his ear, tapping his fingers impatiently on a manila folder sitting on the table in front of him. Acrossfrom him sat a full figured matriarch wearing a 50s style dress, complete with large, bright yellow roses. She had brown curly hair and a perfectly made-up face, and she usually looked kind and comforting, but at the moment she was staring at him disapprovingly.
“Must you really have that thing out all the time?” she asked, gesturing towards his phone. “You know how I feel about technology,” she sighed.
Cass sighed as well. “You know it’s necessary, Aunt Ro.”
“I suppose so,“ she muttered. “Who are you meeting today? I can’t imagine you’re sitting out here just for the enjoyment of the weather.”
Cast looked around, enjoying the sight of his little main street town, watching the occasional car drive by and seeing the bustle of people coming in and out of shops. “I love the rain. There’s something calming and soothing about it. Besides, it drives away the throngs of people.”
Aunt Ro chuckled. “Doesn’t quite drive all of us away, though, does it?”
Cass sighed again. “Yes, dear Aunt, not all of you. So why have I been blessed with this unexpected visit? What is it I can do for you?”
Aunt Ro sighed dramatically. She always could be a bit dramatic, but Cass loved her anyway. When their grandmother had died, Ro had become the unofficial matriarch. She had kept them all close and watched over everyone in the family. She’d fulfilled that role all her life, and it was a job she couldn’t seem to let go of.
“Well,” she replied, “it seems your cousin Ana might be having some trouble. The new man she’s dating. He has a look about him.”
Cast looked sharply at his aunt. “What kind of look are we talking about, Aunt?”
“The look of a man who goes to clubs after he drops her off and hooks up with random women. I highly doubt Ana is aware of such things. She isn’t the type to share,“ Aunt Ro sniffed.
Cass sighed. “She might not take it well,” he offered.
Aunt Ro pursed her lips at him. “Nevertheless, she ought to know. What she does with the information is her business.”
“Ok. I’ll take care of it, Aunt,” he promised. He hated getting involved in anyone’s love life, but better him than Aunt Ro, that was for sure.
Cass noticed Michael heading down the street walking toward him. The cop—well, former cop now, he guessed—was solo for once, although he knew that Ari wouldn’t be far behind. As he made his way toward the table, Cass wrapped up his conversation.
“Well Aunt, it seems my morning meeting is here. I’ll have to let you go. I’ll talk to you later.” And with that he took his earbud out, placing it firmly on the phone.
Aunt Ro stared at him, giving him a bit of a stink eye. “I hate when you do that,” she replied.
Cass only smirked in response. He watched as Michael sat down in the chair that was currently occupied by Aunt Ro. She took on a hazy appearance for a moment before popping up and giving a disgruntled harumph. Well, he had given her warning. It’s not like she had to get sat on.
Ghosts did not like to occupy the same space as people, but it was her own fault. With a final harumph, she disappeared. He was sure she’d be back though. She loved spying on the family and making sure he fixed any issues that arose.
With that out of the way, he glanced at Michael. The former police officer, who was apparently now a private investigator of some type, had often come to him for help over the years. Cass had no idea if Michael understood how exactly Cass was able to help, but Cass certainly wasn’t going to explain his sight, andMichael had never asked. He’d just treated Cass normally and taken any tips he’d given, which Cass appreciated. Not everyone in the police department was so helpful—his quirkiness seemed off-putting to most normies.
Cass also wondered if Michael knew that he had angelic ancestry, or that he was dating and apparently tied to a demon. Cass’s eyes had always been able to see the faint outline of transparent angel wings behind Michael, but after he’d started dating Arioch, the outline had gotten more distinct and visible. Michael’s angelic blood was probably centuries removed, but something like that never fully went away.
Cass had always seen Arioch, Michael’s current boyfriend, exactly as he was—horns, tail, and wings included. Sometimes he had to stop himself from wincing when he thought those wings would knock something over, but of course no one else could see them, and they weren’t corporeal when Ari was in his human form. He often wondered what possessed him to hire the demon for the short stint that he’d worked in Cass’s shop, but demons weren’t usually much trouble, and Arioch had just been so damn friendly.
Something had happened between Mike and Ari, though, because they were inextricably linked together now. It was like thousands of almost invisible shining threads bound the two of them, and even now Cass could see those threads reaching out, down the street and into another shop, where Ari was no doubt causing some type of chaos.
The threads were beautiful, and Cass had to stop himself from staring.
“Hey, Cass. You called?” Michael questioned.
Cass slid the manila envelope over to Michael, grimacing a bit. “I know it isn’t technically your job anymore, but Keats is working the case, and ever since the missing girl incident I really try to steer clear of him.”
